Molding-machine.



J. G. MORRISON.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 4, 190a.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

WITNESSES.

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J. G. MORRISON. MOLDING MACHINE. APPLICATION P1111111 JANA, 1908.

906,259. Patented Dec. 8,1908.

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J'. G. MORRISON.

MOLDING MAOHINB.

WASHINGTON. n. c

JOHN G. MORRISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MOLDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 4, 1908.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Serial No. 409,341.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. MORRISON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVlolding-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to that form of molding machine which is employed in foundries for making molds in sand from patterns of the various articles that it is desired to cast, although it is obvious that it may be otherwise employed for making molds for other purposes; the object of the invention being, to provide a machine of this character, which, while extremely simple in construction and eflicient in operation, shall, at the same time, make the desired molds automatically and continuously,without necessitating the employment of skilled labor in the operation.

To these ends the invention consists, first, in various constructions and combinations of parts, of which the particular forms preferred in practice will be first described, and the novel features of the invention then pointed out in the subjoined claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1, is a longitudinal sectional view of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention, taken generally in the line as x of Fig. 2, with various of the parts shown in side elevation and others broken away for convenience of illustration; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view of the same, taken generally in the line y y of Fig. 1, with various of the parts shown in side elevation; Fig. 3, a reverse plan view of the machine showing more particularly the mechanism employed for connecting and operating the various parts thereof; Fig. 4, a side elevation of a fragment of one of the gear wheels employed for moving the flask holding and carrying carriers beneath the sand supplying and compacting mechanism, and Fig. 5, a detached detail, showing the manner of clamping the flasks to the carrier.

In all the figures, like letters of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts.

A indicates the bed or platform upon and from which the various parts of the machine are supported, and B and B respectively indicate the flasks in which the molds for the various articles to be cast are formed.

The bed or platform A is or may be constructed in any approved form, and is or may be supported u on suitable legs or piers, or rest upon the oor of the building in which the machine is located, with a pit or cellar beneath for the accommodation of the operative parts of the structure that are arranged beneath the bed or platform, as may be required or as the exigencies of the use of the machine may demand. In the form of the invention shown in the drawings however, it is constructed in plate form of the required dimensions, and is provided on its upper surface at the required point with pairs of parallelly disposed rails a, and a upon which are caused to travel the carriers O and C upon whichthe flasks B and B are respectively carried.

Mounted upon the body or platform A is a cylindrical tubular contour, with its bore of the proper diameter to extend outward over both of the flasks and with its upper end outwardly flared, as shown in the drawings. As thus constructed, this hopper is arranged di rectly over the paths of travel of the flasks B and B with its lower end in close relationship to their u per surfaces, in which position it is fixed y held through appro riate means from the bed or platform A. n my preferred form of construction these support-v ing means consist of stands d, su lemented by a latform E, which is provic ed with a suitable opening e formed therein through which the upper end of the hopper D is assed and firmly held. Of these, the stands 5 are respectively secured at their upper and lower ends to the lower end of the hopper D and to the bed or platform A, by screws or bolts d while the latform E is supported above the bed or p atform A by stands a, which, in turn, are respectively secured at their up er and lower ends to the platform E and to t e bed or platform A by screws or bolts 6 Within the hopper D, as thus supported, is arranged the compacter F by means of which the feeding of the sand downward through the hopper and its compacting within the flasks are effected. This compacter, which is preferably located in the lower end of the hopper in close relationship to the top of the flasks B and B as they are passed beneath it, is fixedly secured upon a vertical shaft H, which extends downward axially.

various forms may be adopted. t is preferred however to construct it in the form of 5 a double screw, with two ribbon shaped spirally arranged flanges f extending outwardly in opposite directions from a central hub f and having the lower end of each lying substantially in a plane passing at right-angles through the axls of the shaft H.

With the parts constructed and arranged as thus explained, the feeding of the sand downward through the hopper D will be effected by simply rotating the shaft H in the proper direction; and in order to loosen up the sand su plied to the hopper and maintain it in a loose condition while being fed downward by the compacter, I find it desir able to provide the shaft H with outwardly extending blades 7L2 which may be laterally inclined either upward or downward with respect to the direction of rotation of the shaft, or some may incline upward and others clownward as may be preferred. In the drawings however, I have shown these blades as disposed spirally around the shaft, with the two upper b ades laterally inclined upwardly and the remaining blades downwardly, but this is merely illustrative, and other inclinations and arrangements of these blades may be adopted as may be preferred.

While the shaft H is thus equipped, its rotation may be accomplished through any of the ordinary and well known forms of motion transmitting devices. In the drawings however, I have shown it effected from a shaft I, which, provided with a pulley L and mount ed in suitable hangers 11 extending upward from the platform E, is connected with the shaft H through the intervention of bevel gears 7v and i with which the shafts H and I are respectively provided.

The mechanism for supplying the sand to and compacting it in the flasks being thus constructed and arranged, the carriers C and C which support and carry the flasks B and B beneath it to receive the sand, may be modified in various ways. I prefer however to construct them with body portions 0, which are provided 011 their tops with plane horizontal surfaces 0 and to mount them on appropriate wheels 0 that are adapted to run upon the rails a and 0), whereby to guide the flasks carried by them in proper relation to the hopper and compacter when moved under them.

As thus constructed and mounted the carriers receive the flasks B and B which rest upon their plane horizontal surfaces 0 and upon which they may be held from lateral displacement by dowel pins 0 which extend upward from the carriers and engage with suitable holes 1) formed in the bottoms of the flasks or otherwise. These flasks, which form no part of my present invention, are or may be of any of the ordinary or preferred constructions, and may be employed either with their constituent copes and drags united, or the copes may be used alone, in either of which cases the carriers will be made of the proper heights to bring their upper edges in close relationship to the hopper or compacter when carried under them.

When the flasks are employed with their copes and drags united, as when a portion of each of the molds has been formed in its a propriate drag and it is desired to form tl fe remainder of the mold in its respective copes, as ordinarily practiced in the art, the bottoms of the drags will rest upon the flat horizontal surfaces 0 through the intervention of their respective bottom boards, which will be interposed beneath them. On the other hand, when it is desired to form the molds entirely within the copes, then the copes will be detached from their cooperating drags and their bottom edges will be placed and rest directly upon the plane horlzontal surfaces 0 which will then serve as mold boards, in place of those ordinarily employed, and in that case the patterns 6 will rest directly upon and may be secured to them, as shown in Fig. 2.

With the flasks B and B resting upon the plane horizontal surfaces 0 whether used with their parts united, or with their copes separated from their cooperating drags, they will be firmly held upon the upper surfaces of their carriers by any appropriate means. In some instances, I find. it convenient to effect this holding by clamps secured to the sides of the carriers and constructedwith pivoted levers 0', having eccentric hubs formed upon their sides which engage with holes in the lower ends of links 0 that engage at their upper ends with appropriate flanges b on the flasks, through hooks 0 formed on their upper ends, as shown in Fig. 5. In other instances, on the other hand, I find it convenient to employ for this purpose rolls 0Z which are journaled in suitable bearings (1 formed in brackets d secured to and extending outward from the hopper D, either or both of these forms of holding means may be employed as preferred. Again, in some instances but a single carrier will be employed, and in such case it will be moved back and forth beneath the hopper and compacter by itself alone. I prefer however to employ a plurality of these carriers connected in trains, and to pass one train beneath the hopper and compacter in one direction on one pair of rails, as, for instance, on the pair a, and to pass a second train at the same time backward under them in an opposite direction, as, for instance, on the pair of rails a in which case each carrier as it passes under the hopper and com acter will have the mold of the pattern carried by it formed in its appropriate flask, which may then be removed, and an empty flask suplied in its place, when such carrier may then be transferred to the other pair of rails and passed backward under the hopper and compacter in the opposite direction, with the result that at such transit a second mold will be formed in that flask, and so on, each transit of a flask beneath the hopper or compacter causing a mold to be formed therein, and thereby rendering the machine practically continuous.

When thus employed in trains, the cars of each train will be connected by any approriate connections, such, for instance, as by liook latches c which, pivotally connected at one of their ends by pivots c to one carrier, will engage at their other ends with studs 0 projecting outward from another carrier; and, in order to provide for the holding of the carriers at proper distances apart, I provide each of them at its ends with appropriate buffers 0 which, when the carriers are connected abut the one with the other. With the carriers thus equipped with the buffers 0 I find it desirable to interpose between their adjacent ends blocks whereby to prevent the passage of the sand downward between them when assing under the hopper and compacter, w ile to remove all sand from the rails, as the carriers are moved over them, I find it convenient to provide the carriers at their ends and at other appropriate points with downwardly extending scrapers 0 For propelling the carriers C and 0 upon their supporting rails and beneath the hopper D and compacter F, various means may e adopted. I prefer however to employ for that purpose spur-gears M, M M and M which engage with racks 0 formed on or carried by the carriers, and which are operated from the shaft H, to the end that their synchronous movements with respect to that of the compacter may be insured. As thus employed, these gears are preferably arranged in pairs, w1th the gears of one pair separated the proper distances apart and and lying in one plane of rotation, and the gears of the other pair similarly separated and lying in another plane of rotation, which is or may be parallel to the first or otherwise. In the drawings however, I have shown these planes of rotation as arranged in parallel reationship to each other, and as being co-incident with longitudinal vertical planes extending upward centrally of the respective pairs of rails a and OH, with the gears M and M constituting one cooperative air, and the gears h 2 and M constituting t e other cooperative pair.

The gears M, M M and M being thus arranged, they are preferably secured to the respective shafts M, m m and m which are rotatively mounted in suitable hangers m secured to the under-side of the bed or platform A, with the gears of each pair extending upwardly to the proper distance above the bed or platform to engage with the racks 0 of the carriers as these latter are passed over them, and such gears so connected as to revolve in unison and in the same direction by spur-gears m and m, or m and m with which their respective shafts m and m or p m and m are provided, cooperating with intermediate idler gears m m and m, or m, m, and m, which in turn are respectively mounted in stands 'm or m that are secured to the underside of the bed or platform.A, as shown.

With the gears M, M M and M thus operatively connected in pairs, these pairs are in turn operatively connected with each other and with the shaft H, whereby to be caused to operate, not only in unison with respect to each other, but also with respect to the compacter F. To this end, I make use of the shafts N, O, and O which are respectively journaled in suitable bearings n, 0, and 0 secured to the under-side of the bed or platform A. Of these, the shaft N is preferably connected with the shaft H, through the interventionof the bevel gears n and h with which those shafts are-respectively provided, while the shaft 0 is connected with the gear m by a gear 0 and the shaft 0 connected with the gear m through the intervention of a gear 0 With the pairs of gears M, M and M M thus connected with the shafts O, 0 these latter shafts are connected with the shaft N whereby to be rotated in unison with it. The means by which this connection is effected may be of various kinds. The means however which I have selected for this purpose consists of sprocket wheels and sprocket chains; and, in order to provide for the rotation of the gears M, M M and M and through them of the movement of the carriers C and C at different rates of speed with respect to the rate of speed of the compacter, to thereby vary the density in which the sand may be compacted in the flasks, I find it desirable to employ two sets of sprocket wheels and sprocket chains. To this end, I provide each of the shafts O and O with two sprocket wheels P and P of which the sprocket wheel P on each is made somewhat lar er than the sprocket wheel P and connect these respective wheels with sprocket wheels R, R R and R on the shaft N, through the intervention of sprocket chains S, S S and S which pass around them.

As thus connected the sprocket wheels It and R are preferably secured upon a common hub R or otherwise secured together, while the sprocket wheels R and R are similarly connected by a hub R and in order, to provide for bringing either of these pairs of sprocket wheels into operation with the shaft N while carrying the other pair out of operation therewith, I referably mount both of these pairs of sprocket wheels loosely upon the shaft and provide each of their hubs R and R on its inner end with a clutch member 1", which cooperates with a second clutch member T that is splined upon the shaft N in such a manner as to be ca able of movement longitudinally thereon to bring it into engagement with the clutch member 1 upon either of the hubs R or R With the parts thus constructed and arranged, either of the pairs of sprocket wheels R and R or the pairs R and R may be brought into operation when the shaft N is in rotation, by bringing the clutch member T into engagement with its respective clutch member 1", and thereby the gears M, M M and M rotated at their faster or slower speeds, as one or the other of these pairs of sprocket wheels are locked to the shaft N by such clutch member T.

For sliding the clutch member T longitudinally upon the shaft N to bring it into engagement with the clutch member r of either of the pairs of sprocket wheels R, R or R R as may be desired, various expedients may be adopted. I find it convenient however to employ for this purpose a lever U, which, pivoted in the bed of platform A by a suitable pivot u, and provided with a locking dog a for engagement with suitable notches a formed in the curved segment U engages at its other end with a circumferential groove t formed in the clutch member T, as shown.

With the gears M, M M and M thus connected with the shaft H, the movement of the carriers along the rails a and a will be accomplished whenever the shaft H is rotated; and in order to provide for the rotation of the gears M and M in an opposite direction to that of the gears M and M whereby the carriers on one pair of rails may be moved in one direction and those on the other pair moved in the opposite direction, I interpose between the gears m and 0 an intermediate idler gear 0, supported upon a shaft 0 which is secured to the under-side of the bed or plat form A by stands 0.

While the movement of the carriers C and C upon the pairs of tracks a and a is thus eflected by the direct engagement of the gears M, M M and M with their racks 0 I find it desirable to so construct these gears as to prevent the accumulation of sand on their peripheries intermediate their teeth m", and to that end cut away the portions m on both sides of the gears between such teeth, whereby to form their eripheries at those points as substantially s arp edges, as shown more particularly in Fig. 4.

The various parts being constructed and organized as above explained, a machine is roduced, in which, not only is the necessity for skilled labor obviated, but the machine rendered practically continuous in its operation, since all that is re uired in the automatic and continuous mo ding of the desired articles is, to remove the successive flasks with their contained molds after they have passed under the hopper and compacter upon their carriers, and, after successively transferring such carriers from one pair of rails to another, to supply empty flasks to them and pass them backward under the hopper and compacter in the opposite direction, and so on, each passage of a flask beneath the hopper and compacter on its carrier resulting in the formation of a mold therein.

While in the foregoing I have described the best means contemplated by me for car rying my invention into practice, I wish it distinctly understood that I do not limit myself thereto, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made in it and in its constituent arts without departing from its spirit and su stantial characteristics. Again, while in the drawings I have shown and in the foregoing described a mechanism for transmitting motion from the shaft H to the gear M, M M and M and for permitting of the change of the speed of these gears with respect to that of the shaft at pleasure, I make no claim herein to such mechanism when separately considered, as the same forms the su ject of application No. 460,380, which is a division of the present application, and which was filed by me in the United States Patent Office October 31st, 1908.

Having thus described my invention and specified certain of the ways in which it is or may be carried into effect, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States,

1. The combination, with a hopper for receiving and delivering the sand, a series of carriers each adapted to carry a detachable and removable molding flask, and mechanism for automatically moving such carriers with their flasks beneath the hopper, of a compacter arranged within the lower end of the hopper for feeding downward and compacting the sand into the successive flasks as they arrive beneath it, mechanism for imparting a rotary motion to the compacter, devices arranged within the hopper for loosening up the sand and maintaining it in a loose condition during the operation of the machine, and mechanism by which the speed of movement of the carriers beneath the hopper may be varied; substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a hopper adapted for receiving and delivering the sand supplied to it, two series of carriers for receiving and carrying detachable and removable molding flasks, and mechanism for moving the series of carriers with their flasks beneath the hopper in opposite directions, of a oompacter arranged in the lower end of the hopper for feeding downward the sand and compacting it in the flasks as they are carried beneath it, mechanism for supporting and imparting a rotary motion to the compacter provided with blades for loosening up the sand supplied to the hopper and maintaining it in a loose condition when the machine is in operation, and mechanism by which the speed of movement of the carriers beneath the hopper may be varied; substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a bed or latform provided with two pairs of rails, a opper arranged and supported above such bed or platform, a series of carriers arranged to move on each of the pairs of rails and adapted to carry molding flasks that are detachable and removable from such carriers, and mechanism for moving these series of flasks along their respective pairs of rails in opposite direction beneath the hopper, of a shaft extending downwardly through the hopper, and a compacter secured upon such shaft at the lower end of the hopper and constructed with two outwardly extending oppositely and spirally arranged ribbon shaped flanges, a series of blades extending outwardly from said shaft and laterally inclined with respect to their paths of travel, and mechanism for rotating such shaft in unison with the movement of the carriers, and for varying the speed of movement of the carriers with respect to such shaft; substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a body or platform provided with two pairs of para elly disposed rails, a hop er mounted above such bed or platform, an a series of carriers provided with racks and mounted upon wheels that are adapted to move along such tracks, with the carriers adapted to receive and carry detachable and removable molding flasks; of two pairs of connected gear wheels adapted to engage with said racks and move the two series of carriers in opposite directions, and mechanism by which the pairs of gear wheels may be rotated at difierent rates of speed to accelerate or retard the movements of the carriers beneath the hopper, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the hopper a rotary compacter arranged in the lower end of such hopper, two series of carriers adapted to move beneath the hopper and compacter, and receive and carry detachable and removable molding flasks, racks with which such carriers are provided; a shaft N and mechanism for rotating it in unison with the compacter, of two pairs of connected gear wheels for engaging with the racks on said carriers, a faster and slower motion transmitting mechanism between such shaft and the two pairs of connected gear wheels, and means whereby either one or the other of these motion transmitting devices may be brought into operation to move the said pairs of gear wheels with their connected oarriers at a faster or slower rate of speed with respect to the compacter as may be desired, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a bed or platform provided with parallclly disposed rails, a hopper mounted above such bed or platform, and a series of carriers provided with racks and mounted upon wheels that are adapted to move along such tracks with such carriers adapted to receive detachable and removable flasks, of mechanism for moving such carriers along said rails beneath the hopper, and scrapers carried by these carriers and arranged to cooperate with the rails for removing sand and other obstructions from such rails, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses this 30th day of December, 1907.

JOHN G. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

LOUIS S. DAVIS, WM. H. APPLETON, 

